5 offbeat professions for your child to consider

If your children have finished their high school and are stepping into college, you already have a fair idea of where their interests lie. You have already by now understood that your young adult is not interested in medicine. Or is not someone who would love the civil services. Since you already know what is of particular interest to your children, you can think of certain professions that suit their aptitude and passion. You would also need to see what the most suitable course is, and what kind of colleges offer such courses. Now is the time to list out these professions.

Not every child may opt for the same set of professional courses. Not everyone may be passionate about medicine or engineering. Not every child wants to opt for the law or civil services either. As the world changes everyday, there’s a constant demand for fresh skill sets. There are always offbeat professions your child could consider, and excel in. Read on for five such professions.

1. Food/tea tasting

One of the first offbeat professions if someone is interested in both science and food is food tasting. Closely allied is tea tasting, and both are all about chemistry. Flavour chemistry is a niche area, and flavorists would need to have a good knowledge of biology, food science and chemistry. Many universities offer food technology courses at the graduation, post-graduation or diploma levels. Students could also opt for pure chemistry and then take up a post graduation in food technology/flavour chemistry. A student who has cleared 12th standard in the science stream could consider this career. Closely allied with food tasting is also tea tasting. There are certificate courses for this niche area.

2. Ethical hacking

Cyber security grows in significance in a digital world. If your children love coding and programming languages, they could try their hands at ethical hacking. Ethical hacking is all about helping in the detection of any gaps in security and helping organisations stay prepared in the wake of any cyber attacks. Many law enforcement bodies across the world have ethical hackers in their teams to trace cyber attacks. Many institutes offer certificate courses in ethical hacking

3. Sports management

Is your child passionate about sports and not necessarily a sportsperson? Or is your child a sportsperson but is also interested in managing events, and has good social and communication skills? Sports management is not necessarily about being a sports person but about being someone who loves any sports and wishes to use this knowledge in areas such as management of sports facilities, celebrity management, event management or even sports journalism. This field covers sports marketing and branding as career prospects as well. Some business management courses offered by some institutes offer a sports management course in one term. There are certificate courses, diploma and post graduate diploma courses in sports management as well.

4. Perfumery

Your child loves all things science and excels in chemistry? Does your child also take an interest in cosmetics or luxury brands? Perfumery could be a great option then. It is a blend of artistry, creativity and science. There are many world-renowned institutes that offer courses in perfumery. In India too, there are certificate courses in fragrance and flavour development, post graduate diploma courses offered in perfumery and cosmetics. Your child can make a career out of it, what with the wellness and beauty sector growing world over. There are career openings in a gamut of companies, from the soap and detergent industry to luxury brands manufacturing scents and incense.

5. Cartography

Your child loves poring over the atlas? Does your child love graphs and is always talking about latitudes and longitudes? If your kid has an aptitude for statistics, projections, maths and geography at the same time, cartography as a career may be an interesting idea. Cartography is both an art and science, and it involves map making. There are diploma and post graduate diploma courses offered in cartography by some top universities in India. Cartographers find career avenues in intelligence agencies, IT firms, town planning agencies, and civic bodies mapping traffic, among others.

To conclude, there are many offbeat professions that are emerging as interesting choices for someone who is not interested in routine courses such as engineering or medicine. You could help your child pick any one of these, based on their interests and passions. You would need to do your research about courses on offer, institutes and their fee structure and align your child’s passion with their choice of career.